Shop Small This Saturday

The turkey has settled, and millions of Americans are braving the crowds for Black Friday shopping, hoping to score the best deals at the big retailers. That’s all well and good, but we’re more excited about Saturday.

Saturday, November 25, 2017 is Small Business Saturday®, a day set aside to celebrate and support the small businesses in your neighborhood. It was founded by American Express in 2010.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities, providing local jobs, supporting local non-profits, and making our communities a better place to live, work, and play. At Whir•Local, we’re proud to be a local small business who also works with local small businesses all around the country. We recognize the impact that we can all make by supporting local.

According the American Express Shop Small website, there are 357,408 small businesses in our home state of Oregon, which represents 99.40% of all businesses. However, the businesses that tend to get all the attention during Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the big retailers. That’s why it’s important to #shopsmall in our own neighborhoods.

For example, Salem Paint is our favorite local paint store just down the street from our office. The owners are friends of ours. They don’t have big budgets and deep pockets like the big box stores, but they are great people, incredibly knowledgeable about everything painting, and they make a big difference in our local neighborhood. This is exactly the type of business we should be supporting during Small Business Saturday®.